Welcom to Mariela cortez science project page

Question:if we change the type of liquid soap will it affect, how much oil will remove?

Hypothesis:we think that Dawn soap is going to remove more oil because it is use to clean animals.

Fill a baking dish with water and stir in drops of food dye. Simulate crude oil by mixing 3 tbsp. of vegetable oil and 2 tbsp. coca powder in a mug. Pour this mix slowly onto the water's surface. Wait three minutes. Dip a feather into the water. Record what happens. Gather assorted sorbents, such as paper towels, cotton balls and sponges. Place a small sample of a sorbent in the center of the tainted water. Write down your observations for each new test. Simulate sea water by adding a teaspoon of salt to the fresh water in the dish. Test the feather, sorbent and detergent in sea water.

Gather three 2-inch squares of fur, three squares of chamois cloth, three feathers, six bowls, motor oil, liquid dish washing detergent, and powdered dish washing and powdered laundry detergents. Separate the bowls into two sets of three. Mix 40 ml of dish washing liquid with an equal amount of water. Repeat for the second and third bowls for powdered dish washing and powdered laundry detergents. Label the bowls. Do not label the second set of three bowls. Fill the first unlabeled bowl with water, the second with 40 ml of motor oil mixed with 10 ml of water, and the third with clean water for rinsing. Soak the fur squares in the first bowl of water. Transfer them into the bowl with the motor oil for three minutes. Remove the fur squares from the motor oil mix and rinse them. Repeat this process, using the feather and chamois cloth squares. Put all the materials on paper towels. Write down your observations of how oil changes each material's texture. Place the fur, feather and chamois cloth samples into the bowl with the dish washing liquid. Place additional samples in the bowls with the powdered dish washing and laundry detergents. Allow the samples to soak for five minutes. Sponge each sample, rinse in a bowl, and then place it on paper towels. Evaluate which detergent is most effective in removing oil from the materials.

Expand on the above experiment by testing an array of cleansers, such as different types of shampoo, baking powder, baking soda and hair conditioner. Test the weight and buoyancy of the feathers to determine how different cleansers affect the feathers. While baby powder may return a contaminated feather back to its original buoyancy, hair conditioner may cause the feather to sink.

Gather four sorbents, such as feathers, cotton, hair and straw, a large plastic garbage bag, measuring cup, eye protection and gloves, hammer, burlap bag, three bowls for each sorbent, one gallon of vegetable oil, single-serving coffee filters, stopwatch and liquid soap. Place one cup of each sorbent into three bowls. Create a data table, which records three trials for each sorbent. Label the columns as follows: total water and oil level; remaining water level after removing sorbent; remaining oil level after removing sorbent; and, ratio, which equals remaining water/remaining oil. Fill a measuring cup with 3 cups of water. Add 1 cup of oil. Place 1 cup of the first sorbent into a filter. Lower it into the oil-water mixture until it is submerged. Lift the filter after 30 seconds and wait 30 seconds for it to drain. Record the total water and oil level, and then the water level. Repeat for the remaining 2 cups of sorbent. Repeat the entire experiment for the other three sorbents. Calculate the average ratio of water to oil for all four sorbents. The highest ratio will reveal the most effective sorbent